


Practice in Time

by evaunit0



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 07:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11778018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evaunit0/pseuds/evaunit0
Summary: Shiro works it out.





	Practice in Time

Shiro wasn’t the type to feel dumb. Startled? Disoriented? Sure, those were emotions that ran off him like water, especially as leader of Voltron. Co-leader.

But _dumb_?

He wasn’t dumb.

_Was he?_

He stared at Keith across the training room floor - the red paladin was wrapping his fists, getting ready for a hand-to-hand combat exercise against the training bot. Shiro was mindlessly stretching on the other side of the room, getting ready to run a few laps around the arena.

Why was Keith even practicing without his bayard, or his Marmoran blade for that matter?

Shiro shook his head. Whether Keith used a sword or not in practice wasn’t his concern. He wasn’t his mentor anymore - they were co-leaders of Voltron.

He ignored the idea that Keith had somehow surpassed him without him there to see it happen. It’s what Shiro had always wanted.

With a huff, Shiro stood, giving a last twist to his back before setting off at an easy jog. The others were in here, too - Allura had recently forced them to spend at least an hour locked in here to buff them up.

That wasn’t much of an issue for Shiro or Keith, who were used to coming in here to practice alone.

The others, however…

Pidge was in a separate corner with goggles on, going through a system-generated trial with her katar slicing through invisible targets.

Lance and Hunk were nearest to the door, helping each other lift weights, or more so, try and figure out _how_ to lift them. They usually dashed out as soon as the timer went off and the doors unlocked.

As Shiro circled around Keith, he gave him a nod, smiling. Keith offered a sparing glance toward him, flashing a second’s worth of a frown, before his face went neutral, eyes trained back on the dummy.

Shiro’s smile faded as he finished his first lap, picking up his pace. Shiro wasn’t the most emotionally perceptive, but he could usually tell when Keith was angry.

He had no clue why Keith would be upset.

On his third lap, Shiro peeled off his tank top. The room was getting increasingly hot with everyone in it, and he considered buzzing Allura to crank up the air.

Before he could follow through with that, Lance whistled at him while spotting Hunk, who was making real progress with the weights. Lance’s voice was haughty. “Run past me again, sweetheart.”

Shiro snorted, dodging Lance’s outreached hand as Hunk stood up, checking his watch.

The sounds coming from Pidge’s fight had faded, and Shiro realized that she and Hunk had programed their watches to tell them when training was almost over.

Shiro still had about four more laps to do by the time the doors slid open. He was thankful for the gust of fresh air it welcomed, but almost missed the dull noise of everyone in the room.

Except Keith, that is.

Keith was still pounding away at the bot, repeatedly slamming his fists into it’s chest and sides. He employed a few tactical rolls as well, barely letting the robot get a hit on him.

But he wasn’t making any progress in defeating it.

Shiro slowed himself down until he could walk about half the distance of the training room, crossing his arms while watching Keith. His heart rate was still coming down from sprinting, but it would spike whenever a hit came particularly close.

Without prompting, he heard Keith’s growl. “Stop watching me.”

Shiro stopped himself from smiling. “Focus on your fight.”

Keith hissed as the bot made a clever dash at his center, but rolled out of the way in time. While he recovered, he glared at Shiro, almost snarling. “I can’t with you _watching_.”

“You’re just tiring yourself out, Keith. Evading is good, but not every small action required a full reaction,” Shiro spoke over the fight, watching Keith grow more frustrated by each blow. He stepped around the fight, getting a different angle, one behind Keith. “Patience-”

“Shut the _fuck_ up, Shiro,” Keith spat, turning his back to the bot. “I’m doing this my way.”

Shiro didn’t hear the words - not until after he had pushed Keith to ground with his left arm, simultaneously activating his Galra tech arm while sweeping it upward, slicing the training bot through the neck.

The metal head hit the floor with an echo, cracking the white armor, and exposing the sizzling wiring. He figured Hunk and Pidge would have a fun time trying to figure out Altean circuit boards.

Meanwhile, he couldn’t bring himself to look down at Keith.

He didn’t have to.

He felt the shove, and while he knew Keith wouldn’t purposely hurt him, it rocked him back on his feet.

“Keith,” Shiro called out to him as he began to leave the room, striding across the floor while unraveling his wrapped knuckles. Shiro almost tripped trying to catch him, laying a hand on his shoulder. Keith tensed, but came to a stop in front of the open doors. “It was going to hurt you.”

Keith turned to look at Shiro, but his eyes faltered. “You get hurt all the time, Shiro. That’s what flying the Black Lion means - I can handle myself.”

The confidence Keith was putting on was evident enough to Shiro that he sighed, pulling Keith over to a nearby bench. Shiro gently pressed Keith down, making him sit beside him. “You can’t purposely hurt yourself. You have a team to worry about.”

Keith’s face was bitter. “’ _Patience yields focus_ ’ - whatever, Shiro. It took me months to find you, the real you, and now you think we can just go back to- to I don’t know, camaraderie? Like, cheap jokes between fights? I’m fucking panicked that every fight you step into, you’re not going to come out of.”

Shiro tried reaching out again, but this time, Keith retracted his shoulder. Shiro’s chest felt like a sunken elevator shaft. “No- no, don’t touch me, Jesus Christ. You don’t get to touch me anymore. You’re hardly real. If you touch me,” Shiro flinched as he realized Keith was crying. “If you touch me, I’ll die. I can’t handle that.”

Shiro let Keith sniff and rub at his eyes. Hesitantly, Shiro offered Keith his bunched up shirt, and surprisingly, Keith took it, at first wiping his face with it, then burying his entire head into the fabric . After a moment, Keith drew back, looking down at it and scoffed. “Ugh, that’s gross. I’ll wash it.”

Shiro gently took his hands, and Keith didn’t withdraw. His momentary anger seemed to have dissipated, and Shiro leaned forward. “Keith, we share everything. I don’t care if it’s Lions and bayards, or memories and secrets. I just want to make sure I’m not going to lose you,” Shiro felt himself moving before he could stop himself, letting his forehead rest on Keith’s, their noses brushing. “You’re all I have left.”

He could feel Keith’s breath, still ragged from exertion and tears. Keith’s wet eyelashes fluttered shut, and Shiro realized neither of them had ever told each other that they loved them.

But they knew.

Keith’s voice was light, almost tinged with giddiness. “I missed the calm that came with you.”

Shiro felt Keith’s arms wrap around him, pulling him into a hug. Maybe they had always loved each other, and maybe that love would change. Grow.

But for now, this was enough.

After all, patience _did_ yield focus.

**Author's Note:**

> this drabble was from forever ago i am so sorry omfg
> 
> tumblr: paladinlion  
> 


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